RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that his eventual nominee for the vacant Supreme Court seat will be “indisputably qualified,” and he challenged Republicans’ partisan contention that he should leave the nomination to his successor.
“It’s the one court where we would expect elected officials to rise above day-to-day politics, and this will be the opportunity for senators to do their job,” he said in calling for a confirmation process to proceed as usual when vacancies occur on the Supreme Court.
The unfolding political fight over the balance of the high court, days after the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia, dominated the president’s news conference in California at the end of a two-day summit of southeast Asian leaders.
Obama declined to answer specific questions about whether and how he might tailor his choice to reflect the unique circumstances of the vacancy: It comes with less than a year left in his presidency and a Republican Senate majority already vowing to block the choice.
Obama said he would have no litmus test for a candidate, pointing to his track record on judicial nominations, including two selections to the high court, but instead look for someone “who is an outstanding legal mind, someone who cared deeply about our democracy and the rule of law.”
The president said he was “amused” that Republicans who call themselves “strict interpreters of the Constitution” are suddenly citing unwritten precedent to justify their position.
“I expect them to hold hearings. I expect there to be a vote. Full stop,” Obama said.
Obama’s comments came as Republicans already seemed to hedge from their early insistence that the Supreme Court vacancy be left for the next president to fill.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told a local radio station he would not rule out holding hearings on a potential Obama nominee, even as he maintained it “only makes sense” that the next president be left to choose.
Senate Democrats are already trumpeting what they see as a predictable caving on the part of Republicans.
“Senator (Mitch) McConnell’s rash and unprecedented decision to deny a Supreme Court nominee a fair hearing and floor vote has put Republicans in an untenable position, so it is not surprising to see cracks appear so quickly,” said Adam Jentleson, Minority Leader Harry Reid’s deputy chief of staff. “The next step in this process will be for Senator McConnell to back down and give President Obama’s nominee a hearing and a floor vote.”
White House officials have said the president will announce a selection in a timely matter, but not until after the Senate returns from its recess next week. Discussions have already begun internally at the White House and with key senators but those conversations remain at a preliminary phase, and a senior administration official said Tuesday that they would ramp up once the president returns from California after the summit he hosted with ASEAN leaders.
